OTA selects new Road Knights team

TORONTO (Jan. 27) — Ten professional truck drivers have been named to the 1999-2000 Road Knights Team, a group formed by the Ontario Trucking Association to promote positive aspects of the industry.

Like the two previous teams, the group will serve a two-year term as industry ambassadors, visiting schools, civic clubs, and other venues three or four times a month in a concentrated effort to improve the industry’s image in the eyes of the general public.

Chosen from a shortlist of 21, in turn selected from a total of over 100 nominations, were these 10 men:

> Rod Armstrong, Mackie Moving Systems, Oshawa
> Keith Dexter, Provmar (Trimac), Concord
> Wayne Donnelly, XTL Transport, Etobicoke
> Daniel Gallan, York Transportation, Brampton
> Patrick Greenwood, TST Overland Express, Windsor
> Andrew Koens, MSM Transportation, Bolton
> Ross Oddi, Empire Transportation, Grimsby
> Shawn Rickwood, Harmac Transportation, Concord
> George Smagala, Labatt Breweries Ontario, Etobicoke
> Rick Warden, Schneider National Carriers, Guelph

All are company drivers, with the exception of Donnelly, an owner-operator, and all come with impeccable credentials.
Some have several million kilometers of driving under their belts, over as many as 35 years, with neither accidents nor moving violations to stain their abstracts.

A clean driving record and a demonstrable commitment to safety were among the selection criteria, as was the ability to speak convincingly in public. The Knights will attend fleet driver meetings and make presentations to prospective drivers at training schools around the province. They will also be called upon to act as industry spokesmen with the popular media. The team began training today to deal with the public and with the press.

The eight-person selection committee included Today’s Trucking editor Rolf Lockwood, as well as a former OTA Road Knight, a popular radio personality, a Toronto Police sergeant, a representative of the Ministry of Transportation, and three OTA staff members.